The G-Man Writes Again
Former F.B.I. director James Comey on working for George W. Bush and Barack Obama; advice for the current director, Kash Patel; and the art of his second act: writing thrillers
Getting Lit
Literary salons are making a comeback in London, where live readings—complete with D.J.’s—are eclipsing nightclubs
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss a new boxed set of Jane Austen’s novels, an account of the fabled 1917 sighting of the Virgin Mary in Portugal, and a portrait of the Roman poet Horace
The Man Behind the Mustache
Ron Chernow discusses adapting his Hamilton biography into the hit musical, how to cure writer’s block, and the complicated, thrilling subject of his latest book: Mark Twain
Eighties Mania!
From the eruption of Mount Saint Helens to the rise of Madonna, Indira Gandhi’s assassination, and shoulder pads, two new books capture the bold, anarchic spirit of the decade
The Mean Girls Next Door
How Tina Fey turned a self-help manual for anxious mothers into the quintessential teen movie of the early aughts
The People’s Mother
From McDonald’s to Disneyland, mums’ races, and school drop-offs, no aspect of Princess Diana’s identity was more heavily scrutinized than her role as a mother to William and Harry
The Writer and the Spy
How a journalist and a god-fearing F.B.I. agent partnered up to tell the true story of going undercover in America’s most dangerous neo-Nazi group
Frank Fournier’s New York
A portfolio of the French photographer’s 1970s Technicolor pictures hearkens back to a city steeped in danger, decay, and unbridled creative freedom
Deadly Pleasures to Watch and Read
A new book and high-profile TV series paying tribute to Agatha Christie, and more
Ireland’s Literary Femme Fatale
The James Bond producer remembers Edna O’Brien, the pioneering writer whose books were once banned for their depictions of female sexuality
The Last Renaissance Man
Ely Callaway went from running the Burlington textile company to founding ultra-successful wine and golf businesses—all while hiding a lifelong secret
Elephant Man
The secret history of the Asian elephants that Belgium’s Leopold II dispatched to Africa in service of his ruthless colonial vision
An Ode to the Humble Paperback
From Lady Chatterley’s Lover to Bright Lights, Big City to A Little Life, books that were better the next time around
Reality Check
From the French Proverbe to the English Experiment, a new coffee-table book surveys the avant-garde journals that paved the way for the 1920s’ Surrealist movement
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss 75 newly reissued editions of Georges Simenon’s detective novels, featuring the French inspector Jules Maigret
Churchill’s Angels
How a secret W.W. II–era British spy ring fought the Nazis from New York’s Rockefeller Center—and how a female agent almost lost her life in the process
Terroir Terror
A former sommelier at a four-star New York City restaurant recalls a harrowing sexual assault she experienced behind the scenes of the fine-dining world
